Golf clubs typically employ shafts which are straight between the club head and the club handle. A wide variety of materials have been and are employed in the construction of such shafts.
Golf clubs, particularly putters, have been proposed which employ shafts which are not straight in an attempt to improve club performance. The clubs shown in the following U.S. patents are believed to be representative of the state of the art insofar as non-straight club shafts are concerned: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,874,668, issued Apr. 1, 1975, U.S. Pat. DES. 256,824, issued Sep. 9, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,694, issued Oct. 14, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,965, issued Dec. 2, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,816, issued Nov. 11, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,073, issued May 3, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,185, issued Jul. 12, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,153, issued Jan. 3, 1989. The above-noted Patents all relate to golf putter constructions which allegedly improve a golfer's putting stroke. The arrangements shown in the patents appear to be inappropriate insofar as construction of golf clubs other than putters is concerned and are not directed to improvement of or performance of clubs other than putters.
Canadian Patent No. 710,688, issued Jun. 1, 1965, discloses a golf club incorporating structure that redistributes the weight of the club between the hands and the club head. The redistribution of weight is. accomplished by weighting the club intermediate the club head and hand grip, in a location selected for a particular individual, so that the club itself will tend to bring the hands toward the body during both the back swing and follow through.
An embodiment of the club disclosed in the Canadian Patent, the embodiment illustrated in the FIGS. 8 and 9 thereof, shows a form of offset and weight distribution that the inventor believed was particularly adapted for approach irons and the like. A block formed of a suitable metal such as brass, steel or aluminum, depending upon the weight required, has shaft segments located in drilled holes in the block and the structure is adjustable to place the hand grip of the club either forwardly or backwardly of the club hosel or behind the face of the club in varying amounts in accordance with the preference of the user of the golf club. FIG. 3  of the Canadian Patent discloses an embodiment in which the head of a putter is offset in the direction of the player with an offsetting portion positioned between two sections of the shaft. Lead or other weight material is poured into a drilled portion of the offset to weight the club at that location.